Authentication
The firm’s high-level professionals seek the best art proposals on the market, verify authenticity, and provide original documents. We collaborate with laboratories, museums, auction houses, and experts engaged in research and attribution of works of art to eliminate the possibility of acquiring inauthentic work.
Authentication (from Ancient Greek authentikós) is the act of confirming the genuineness of a specific work so that an opinion can be rendered as to whether certain art pieces are originals, reproductions, copies, or counterfeits. Authentication is largely a yes-or-no inquiry.
Attribution, on the other hand, deals mostly with authorship. Here, one does not know who created the work; authenticity is not in question. In matters of attribution, generally the work is not signed, but occasionally it is with a signature added later. Sometimes there is little or no history, no documentation, and no provenance, and therefore it cannot be readily confirmed who owned the artwork in the past.
The materials, the condition, the subject, and the style allow us to place the artwork in a certain place at a certain time. In some instances, such as if a painting has been relined or transferred to a different support, we may need x-ray photographs and other scientific tests. Once we are satisfied that a work is from a certain place and period, we move on to identifying the specific artist. If the piece is immediately reminiscent of a particular artist, we conduct the appropriate research. If our notion is not substantiated, we make a list of all the possible authors and proceed by elimination, performing a series of comparative analyses. The most basic are subject, composition, and style, which we tackle one by one. In total we perform up to 45 different series of analyses.
ACP has specialized experience dedicated to the investigation of the authenticity of all manner and forms of fine art. We specifically undertake all of the necessary academic, closed archival studies, and investigative forensic measures that are required in fine art authentication cases and attribution matters. Our private and corporate clients rely on ACP’s ability to undertake artwork legitimacy investigations around the globe in order to assist in defining appropriate asset management strategies that best fit their needs.
Back to top